


Adrenaline

by yankeetooter



Category: Chernobyl (TV 2019)
Genre: Adrenaline, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-16 04:29:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21030284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yankeetooter/pseuds/yankeetooter
Summary: Valery's adrenaline gets pumping.





	Adrenaline

**Author's Note:**

> a·dren·al·ine
> 
> noun  
a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, especially in conditions of stress, increasing rates of blood circulation, breathing, and carbohydrate metabolism and preparing muscles for exertion.

Valery Legasov leads a sheltered life before April 26, 1986. There's not much that gets his adrenaline flowing. Oh, there's the occasional argument with coworkers at the Kurchatov Institute, but even those are relatively tame. Once or twice when he has more heated exchanges, it takes him forever to calm down. Only after getting home and sitting with Sasha for a while, soft music playing in the background, can he really calm down. Writing poetry helps too. But really, it isn't an issue most of the time...until Chernobyl.

_______________

It started with a phone call. The news didn't faze him much, but the gruffness of Shcherbina, whoever he was, got him tense. And a meeting at the Kremlin?!

Then the meeting. Valery was already a bundle of nerves when he got there. But then he read the report about the fireman being burned from holding a smooth black piece of rock. Graphite?

The meeting itself doesn't start off tense. Deputy Chairman Shcherbina gives his report calmly, except the issue is then dismissed. Valery feels his adrenaline go through the roof. Then...

"No!", banging on the table. "We can't adjourn!"

Shcherbina's voice. Saying his name, dismissing his claims. Valery has to speak up of course, but that voice travels down his spine, calming him somehow. It is the same voice as on the phone, but much gentler despite its intent.

More discussion. Losing his temper a bit in the heat of trying to make his point. Than more levelheadedness as Gorbachev calls him out, requiring Valery to get himself together. And no matter his desperation to get the facts out, his internal radar keeps focusing on that man across the table. Waves of calmness seem to radiate off him.

What? He was going to Chernobyl?! That isn't good, though necessary no doubt. And Boris Shcherbina is going too. Maybe it will be okay. 

___________________

Helicopter ride that almost becomes a free fall close-up tour of Ukraine's landscape. Then he was trying to explain nuclear reactors to Shcherbina.

Piercing blue eyes gazing at him. The man's focus is helping him focus too. And the man had actually listened to him at the meeting. Valery almost blushes to think of it. The pleasure of a teacher who has an attentive pupil, but this one with a magnetism that could not be denied.

The first sight of the reactor. Ionizing radiation making the air glow. Graphite on the roof! Valery's adrenaline kicks in again. Angry words exchanged, more threats. Finally, the pilot listens. Shcherbina is angry, but when Valery stumbles, Shcherbina's hands catch him and gently guide him to his seat.

He's told to come behind with the guards. When they catch up, he is attacked and taunted by Brukhanov and Fomin. His blood is boiling, but he has no defense, no answer at this time. So he turns to his anchor, who has only to glance at him before turning and shutting down his two slanderers.

They sit and wait for Pikalov to return. Valery should be antsy, anxious. His anchor paces back and forth like a caged wolf. Valery focuses on him, allows himself to calm down. They just have to wait.

15000 roetgen!! Pressure for answers, another argument. Adrenaline threatening again. He rages at Shcherbina, who rages back. But then, "I'm going to get you 5,000 tons of sand and boron." Shcherbina, taking care of the immediate. Valery can breathe again.

__________________

Next day, watching the helicopters. First one approaches the core. It's too close!! Valery's anxiety skyrockets and his worst fears are realized when the helicopter crashes. No! No! No! No! Gasps of breath. Specks dance before his eyes. This can't be happening!

Then, "Is there any other way, Legasov?". He shakes his head. There's not. But the gentle sounding of his name brings him back from the edge. His breathing eases, although tears prick at his eyes. He has to turn away, but he feels Shcherbina's gaze on him like a loving caress.

Later, in the apartment. Shcherbina enters, cheered by the success of the mission after that one fateful flight. Valery cannot stop thinking about the fire spreading the radiation. Blind reassurances from Shcherbina. He doesn't understand, trusts others who don't understand, but he tries. Tries to calm Valery's thudding heart.

Still driven by adrenaline, Valery blurts out their life expectancy, and watches as the rock crumbles. Shcherbina sinks into the chair, shock written on his face. When he answers the phone, the strength in his voice is gone.

Oh no! What has he done? His anchor is floundering. He apologizes but it seems too late. Shcherbina rises, comes to the window. He tells Valery the news from the call. 

Valery stands next to the looming man. Shcherbina is broken, yet radiates strength. This is the closest they've been except for that brief moment on the helicopter. He can only gaze at him as Shcherbina comes to the decision to evacuate.

_____________________

Later that night. Looking at maps. Shcherbina, still shaken, is distracted. Even when the woman enters, he sits quietly, watching the scientists discuss like a cat watching a ping-pong match. The woman leaves. They're going to Moscow the next day. Boris looks lost. Now, Valery is his anchor. He will give the report the next day and try deflect some of the blame off of Boris.

______________

The meeting with Gorbachev. Valery should be anxious, but he's not. Boris needs him, and his trust buoys Valery through the meeting. He must be strong for Boris.

_______________

Back at Chernobyl. The skeptical workers question him about the mission. He doesn't have sufficient answers. He starts to panic, the adrenaline betraying him again, threatening to overwhelm him. He glances at Boris. The man looks at him, only a glance, and rises.

"You'll do it because it must be done...". His anchor is back. Valery can breathe again. His heart rate slows. On the way out through the back door, a hand rests briefly in the small of his back.

The end?


End file.
